


Kings in the Corner

by drwhorose



Category: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-07
Updated: 2012-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-30 17:43:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drwhorose/pseuds/drwhorose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill Roach looks back on one of the finest days of his boyhood: learning how to play cards with Jim Prideaux.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kings in the Corner

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for a TTTS KinkMeme prompt on LiveJournal. I own nothing. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy belongs to John Le Carré.

“Yes?” Jim had already heard Bill Roach approach the caravan. He always seemed to know when Roach would pay him a visit.

“Hello, sir.” He adjusted his spectacles nervously.

“Jumbo.” Jim couldn’t help but smile when he looked at the chubby fidgeting boy. “Come in.”

Roach entered the caravan, which was fragrant with curry. 

“Would you like to a play a game, Jumbo?” Jim offered.

Roach felt a moment of excitement. What kind of games did adults play? He wondered. His question was answered before he could begin to ponder, when he saw Jim take out a deck of cards. Roach’s excitement only grew stronger. He always had wanted to learn to play cards. His father never let him watch let alone play cards. It seemed every time Roach came to see him, there was a game. He was left to gaze out the window at the boys playing war in the park, a foggy mist forming on the glass in front of him.

“Kings in the Corner,” Jim bluntly interrupted Roach’s thoughts.

“Sorry?” 

“It’s a bit like solitaire, except this game requires more than one player. And you put the kings in the corners. I’ll show you.” 

Roach watched as Jim’s large and capable hands shuffled the cards with ease. Jim could make the cards move any which way with a flick of his fingers. As the cards moved like birds’ wings, Roach felt a rush go through his gut. He could watch Jim shuffle cards for hours if he would allow it. 

“We each get seven cards and I must deal four extra to go around the stock. See?” Jim demonstrated as he set up the playing area on the small rickety table.

Roach nodded, as he watched Jim deal the cards carefully and meticulously. 

“You can play this game with many players, but I prefer to share the game with only one partner.” Jim explained.

“Fine with me,” Roach replied.

“Course it is,” Jim chuckled a little, allowing a bit of happiness just for a moment. “It’s really a game of luck, but you must also watch the board for any additional moves you can make. And be sure to get rid of your big cards, aces and the royalty. Whoever is out of cards first, wins.”

Roach nodded dutifully. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t take it all so seriously. It’s only a game.” Jim allowed another small smile.

Roach took in a deep breath and inhaled the lovely spice of curry in the air of the caravan. Jim took the first turn, ridding himself of a few cards and then passed. 

Roach rid himself of one card. “I pass.”

“Are you certain?” Jim looked at the board and then at Roach.

He looked at the board thoughtfully. “Hmmm.”

“Do you see that lonely red four on the board?” Jim’s gaze seemed to penetrate Roach.

He nodded. “Shall I move it, sir?”

“Where will you move it?”

“On the black five,” Roach said confidently.

“That’s it, Jumbo!” Jim clapped him on the back with his good arm. “And now you can get rid of another card in your hand. See, now you’re getting it.”

Roach smiled, quite pleased with himself. He looked over at Jim. He was no longer Monsieur Prideaux. He wasn’t even Rhino or hunchback. He was Jim. 

“Would you like a curry?” Jim asked when the game had ended. He had won, but Roach still felt victorious. 

“Yes, I would.” Roach nodded, salivating slightly.

Jim split the contents of the pan into two bowls over freshly steamed white rice. “Hope you like chicken curry.”

“I’ve never had it before, but it smells very…(intoxicating? intriguing?) delicious.” Roach couldn’t decide if Jim had blushed for a moment. The lighting in the caravan was quite poor. Or perhaps he had wanted Jim to blush. Roach wasn’t certain why.

“Thank you for the curry.” Roach had said to break the silence after they had finished eating.

“Thank you for the game.” Jim replied softly, not looking up from his bowl. His back seemed to ache him, and Roach noted that Jim was trying not to make it obvious. Roach watched Jim look around the caravan for his beaker of vodka, his only source of pain relief.  
“Sir?” Roach stood up and retrieved the beaker, handing it to the pained man.

“You are the best watcher, aren’t you?” Jim half smiled, half winced as he stood up to drink from the beaker.

Roach wanted to say something of comfort to him. That he didn’t think Jim was a creepy hunchback or even a rhino, as the other boys called him. But he didn’t know how to begin.

Jim sat down and let out an almost inaudible moan. “Go on then. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” Jim massaged his shoulder, no longer able to hide the pain. It was all in vain, he knew. Roach already knew he suffered. “A demain, mon cher Jumbo.” 

“Au revoir, Monsiuer Prideuax.”

Many years later, Kings in the Corner would be what Roach remembered when he saw Jim in Hyde Park. He would know that limp anywhere. The hunchback, the aching shoulder, the long strides. What could he say to Jim? Where to begin? That now he was studying to be a detective? That he loved Jim before he had known what it meant to love another man? That when he smelled chicken curry he salivated, not for the food, but for the man who had introduced him to it? That learning how to play Kings in the Corner had been one of the finest days of his boyhood?

But when he approached Jim, he began to fidget nervously and adjust his spectacles. 

“Hello, sir?” Roach asked as he stood behind Jim, hoping for recognition.

Jim jolted in surprise, a first for him. But then a rush of recognition spread over his face. 

“Jumbo?” A smile began to form, forcing its way over Jim’s jaggedly handsome face. Jim now had to look up to meet Roach’s gaze. He had grown so tall.

“Yes, Jim, it’s me.” Roach smiled proudly.

~Fin


End file.
